By Stephen Roshy Well maintained forests play a vital role in controlling and mitigating the effects of global warming. Forests not only help slow down climate change, but also provide a sustainable means of living for many living beings. Forests have a multitude of benefits that are often overlooked by many; it is more than just a wood commodity or…

By Roberta Ward Smiley Editor’s note: Roberta Ward Smiley is a colleague and the founder of La Reserva Forest Foundation in Costa Rica. You can read about the work of the Foundation on Roberta’s Forest Blog. Climate Change Course Second Peer Assessment Essay Low Carbon Economy My gratitude to Coursera for this climate change course because it has enabled me to develop…

A collaborative effort between the timber industry, scientists and forest ecologists to help restore and maintain Michigan’s northern forest, a vital ecosystem for the region and the world. This Nature Conservancy video highlights the costs and benefits of forest conservation. Featured image credit: jimflix, courtesy flickr

We are coming to a better understanding of the vital role that forests play in the general health of planetary ecosystems. However, alongside our burgeoning awareness, we are also destroying forests in our quest for more land and lumber. Deforestation is eliminating the Earth’s forests on a massive scale. Each day at least 80,000 acres (32,300 ha) of forest disappear…

GlobalWarmingisReal contributor Anders Hellum-Alexander wraps-up and comments on the climate and environmental news headlines for the past week: The US government is placing a focus on the threats of climate change to national security. If the rate and severity of natural disasters increases then a great strain will be placed on the military resources of the US. Americans don’t sit by…

Chile, Honduras, Papua New Guinea, Suriname, Thailand and Vanuatu all submitted REDD+ Readiness Plans, thus qualifying for $23 million in grants, indicating that progress, through slow and halting, is being made at the international level to halt deforestation, forest degradation and resulting greenhouse gas emissions.

As large swaths of western forests in North America succumb to pine beetle infestation, due in part to warming winters, preliminary studies show that the dead, decaying trees are not releasing the huge flux of CO2 previously feared by scientists. According to a study just released in the journal Ecology Letters, despite the billions of trees killed in the pine beetle infestation…